[Gipfelsoli Newsletter] An Open Letter to the Press

[International Newsletter]

An Open Letter to the Press Rostock, G8 2007: There is Something Terribly Wrong
Here

Here in Germany, as major protests begin against the G8, the world press is not
looking beyond the story of the battle – a partial story at best – and asking
how or why it is happening

Summit after summit, we have seen the same pattern in the media. The images of
black clad protestors hurling rocks at police, the stories of senseless
hooligans—those whom the government says should be punished and locked away.

These stories and images of street fighting do nothing but spread fear,
criminalize protests, divide social movements, and distract the public from the
story of the G8 and their unaccountable polices that are spreading militarism,
poverty, violence, environmental destruction and climate change.

It is easy to condemn those who throw a rock or burn a car, but most of what we
are seeing in Rostock is police blatantly provoking violence, using that same
violence to justify ever more heavy-handed repression. Each day we are
experiencing constant harassment, searches and humiliation imposed on us in the
streets and on bikes, trains and borders, with no evidence of crime.

According to an official statement 13,000 police were present in Rostock on
Saturday – all were well-armed and wearing lots of protective gear. There were
small bands of police running into crowds, pushing, shoving and encircling
protestors in a legally permitted rally. We saw nonviolent protestors who were
trying to de-escalate the situation bludgeoned with batons and pepper sprayed.
We saw huge water cannons infused with toxic chemicals spraying
indiscriminately. Why is the press not reporting these acts of violence by the
police? If violence makes such good headlines, why does the violence of poverty
created by G8 policy go un-condemned?

Perhaps we might begin to understand if we look deeper. We may see that such
violent confrontations have become a symptom of social and economic systems
that values property over life, prisons over education, sprawl over
sustainability, borders over migration, war over peace. We might see that it is
in the interest of the police and the G8 to have such street fights, to justify
the 90 million euros spent on security (in Germany alone). We might understand
that repression and the violence of police is designed to thwart democracy and
silence dissent.

But we who oppose the G8 will not be silent and we not be stopped. We understand
that things are terribly wrong and that without such protests our voices will
not be heard at all.

For ongoing independent coverage of events near Rostock: de.indymedia.org
Contact:

* Lisa Fithian, Austin,TX / +49 17629799874 / fithianl at igc.org /
* Logan Price, Seattle, Wa / +49 16092437902/ logan at riseup.net
* Nick Simmons, Vashon,WA / technocrat.nick at gmail.com
* Causten Wollerman, Denver, CO / 303.748 0922 / causten.wollerman at gmail.com
* Eric Freeman,Minneapolis, MN / erriiik at riseup.net (speaks German)
* Ian Markson, San Francisco, CA / IanEMarkson at yahoo.com,
* Val Alzarga, Denver, CO / 31610647398
* Michal Asterweil, Chapel Hill, NC / 0049015774630929
* David Zlutnick, CA, davidzlutnick at gmail.com
* Brandon Letsinger, Seattle, WA, cascadianow at gmail.com
* Luke Rodeheffer, Rodchester, MN, unspunmedia at gawab.com (speaks German)

June 5th 2007